Charley's gift
by InnocentSmile97
Summary: Charley learns of Christmas from Nancy and puts together a little surprise for his mate Dodger :  fluffy friendship fic. One-shot.


**Charley's gift**

"… An' that 'ow I got kicked outta the third pub today."

Nancy laughed as she and Master Charley Bates wandered down the London high street. A small market was on today, so there were a lot more people than usual.

"Chu silly thing. Soon ev'y barman's gonna know ya face!" Nancy shook her head and pulled her shawl tighter round her shoulders. It being both England and December made it far from warm – even Charley had buttoned up his Jacket! Or at least, the one button that hadn't yet fallen off…

The two continued with their stroll, Nancy not giving a second look to those that barged rudely past and Charley casually pick-pocketing various by-passers. Suddenly, Nancy stopped. But Charley carried on walking.

Eventually the young boy sensed he was no longer in the elder's company, so also stopped to look round. Observant by trade, Charley quickly found Nancy standing by one of the market stalls.

"What cha lookin' at?" he mumbled, squinting at the trinkets set out on the table cloth.

Nancy seemed not to have heard him. "What 'bout this one for Bet?"

"Whot for?"

Again Nancy was too absorbed in the silver thing she was holding up. "Hmmm… I think the royal blue stone might go more with her hair…"

Charley rolled his eyes. Girls and their shopping! He leaned against a lamppost and watched the cold but generally happy shoppers go about their business, vaguely noticing how easy some of their pockets were to pick. He would've picked them too if he wasn't waiting for Nancy.

A slender hand tapped him on the shoulder.

"C'mon." said Nancy, leading the way back down the street.

"Whot cha get?" said Charley, catching up with her.

"I'll show ya…" Nancy looked about (ironically for pickpockets) then quickly and discreetly showed the curious boy a simple but pretty brooch in a small box.

"Did ya buy it?" asked Charley, incredulously.

"'Course."

"Whot cha do that for? I coulda stole it for ya an' ain't ask for nothin' either!"

"I wan'ed t' buy it. It's for Bet."

"But WHY?" Charley grabbed hold of the woman's elbow so that she was forced to stop and look round at him.

"For CHRISTMAS, silly!" Charley just looked blank.

"Christmas…" murmured Charley, his mouth slowly forming this foreign word. Nancy felt sorry for the boy then. Fagin had decided not to do Christmas with the gang. Too much hassle, he'd said, but she suspected it was more the money.

"Yes, Christmas - the 25th December. It's a religious celebration." explained Nancy.

"I didn't know chu were religious!" exclaimed Charley. Nancy laughed.

"I ain't. But I celebrate it anyways." She shrugged. "I guess it's just an excuse to give presents to those chu really care about."

"Ahhh… presents…" nodded Charley, now understanding where that shinny thing came in. "So that's Bet's Christmas present, eh?"

"Yep." Nancy looked as if she was about to start walking again, but Charley probably wouldn't have noticed if she had; he was lost in thought.

"Whot… whot d'ya do with the presents?" Nancy turned back to him. She had other things that she needed to be getting on with but she pitied Charley. It was only natural he was curious about this new event that had previously been kept quiet.

"Ya give 'em t' each other and open 'em on Christmas Day." Charley nodded, his eyes looking slightly glazed over.

"Say…" said Nancy smiling down at the boy, "What 'bouts chu get a Christmas present for someone, eh? What 'bouts… Dodger?"

Charley seemed to warm to the idea. "Yeah…" Then his face fell. "Whot would I get 'im?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll think o' som'ing!" said Nancy, brightly. "But you've gotta be quick – only 5 days t' go!" And with that, Nancy disappeared off into the hustle and bustle of the market shoppers.

Charley let her go, contemplating what she had said. A Christmas present for Dodger… he'd like that, wouldn't he? A gift from probably his one true friend – it had to be special.

Good job the Artful Dodger wasn't actually here with him; that gave him the chance to look for the perfect gift!

Most people were used to Charley and Dodger's slightly erratic relationship. One day, they'd be inseparable, the next, quite solitary. It was just the way they worked. Every now and then they took a bit of a break from each other, as all friends do, to prevent the Artful from going insane due to Charley's unique humour and Charley from getting over-competitive and jealous.

But despite all that they were still brothers, still 'double trouble' and still as thick as thieves.

So Charley tottered off back down the high street. His goal: to buy Dodger's Christmas present. Yes, he was going to _buy_ it, just as Nancy had bought Bet's. But where the money came from was a different matter all together.

~#~

The Artful Dodger groaned and rolled out of his lumpy, make-shift bed. Just as he did every day, he gave a big stretch and reached half-asleep for his precious top hat and blue jacket. As usual, he was one of the first up, so tip-toed quietly to the door leading to their rickety kitchen/dining/living room. But he didn't get very far.

"Owwww!" Jack hissed, trying to keep as quiet as possible through the pain of tripping over something small on the floor and hitting his hand on the sharp bed edge in the process of keeping his balance. He looked down cautiously at the peculiar item.

He bent down and picked it up. It was nicely hand size and wrapped in what looked like old newspapers. Intriguing… He gave it a shake. It rattled! He looked about but no-one else seemed to be awake…

So who put it there? Why? Who for? And what was it? It was at the end of Dodger's bed wasn't it? So could that mean it was for him…

Too bad if it wasn't, he'd already ripped off the paper and was opening the strange little box! Something round and gold fell into his grubby hand. He turned it over. It was a pocket watch!

"Don't chu go showin' that off t' Fagin or the others." came a familiar and cheerful voice from behind him. Dodger whipped round to see Charley sitting on the Dodger's bed, a cheeky grin all over his face.

The Artful gaped at him. It wasn't often he was near enough speechless.

"W-w-what?" he mumbled, confused.

"Oh, and a merry Christmas t' you too!" replied Charley, sarcastically, "It's ya Christmas present from me."

Dodger still looked confused.

"Ask Nancy if ya wanna know 'bout Christmas – this is jus' a gift to show 'ow much I care for ya."

"You… you stole this… for me?" Dodger said, disbelievingly.

"No!" Charley laughed, "I bought it for ya, Jack."

"A pocket watch… for me?" he sounded touched now.

"Yeah! Took me a few days t' get som'in' good for ya – an' I'll a'mit; I dunno 'ow good quali'y that is cause I got it from this guy that stank of -"

"It don't ma'er." Interrupted Dodger, "No-ones eva given me nothin' before." He sat down on the bed with Charley, clutching the watch to his chest like it was the most valuable thing in the world.

Charley smiled. "I'm glad ya like it."

"Like it?" Dodger raised his voice, but not loud enough to wake the others. He pulled his best mate in for a hug. "Charley, I love it!"

~#~

Ah, what's left of my Christmas spirit! Read and review! And if you liked it, check out my other Charley and Dodger stories :)


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